Daly

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Variant of Daley

Daly has been given to 356 babies in the U.S. since 1988. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2002, with 21 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 87% girls, 13% boys all-time.

Babies named Daly, 2024

1 in 478,000

Daly over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Daly over time

In 2024, Daly went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19882024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Daly: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Daley

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Daly means

Daly is a variant of Daley.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Daly is used in English (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈdeɪ.li/ for Daly.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Daley.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 308 girls were recorded with the name Daly between 1988 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 21 in 2002; its best national rank was #5,496 in 2002.

In the United States, 48 boys were recorded with the name Daly between 1993 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2006; its best national rank was #8,989 in 1993.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Daly?

Daly had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024: 1 in 478,000; 7 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only: 1 in 231,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 331,009 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Daly sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 331,009 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Daly. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Dalys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Daly was born before 2003 — so the typical Daly is around 22 today.

Median birth year: 2003; About 22 years old
Biggest decade: 1990s; 32.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 65.6%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 308; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1990s — 32.1% of all recorded uses (99).

Is Daly rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2002 (21)
Years since peak: 23; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 30.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #5,496; 2002

Spellings of Daly

Daly is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 60.1% against Daly's <0.01%.

Mary60.1%4,141,481
Amy10.2%701,631
Dawn4.2%289,641
Sally3.0%205,229
Dana2.8%193,555
Lily2.8%189,644
Haley2.3%159,511
Daisy2.3%158,723

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Daly around the world

Where Daly ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1980–2024
#4,714
in 2024
Canada
2016–2016
#3,204
in 2016
South Australia
2004–2004
#700
in 2004

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Daly by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #5,496; 2002
Peak year: 2002; 21 that year
First recorded: 1988
Last recorded: 2024
All-time count: 308
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #8,989; 1993
Peak year: 2006; 7 that year
First recorded: 1993
Last recorded: 2022
All-time count: 48
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Daly

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Dali Dally Dalal Daley Dalya Dala Daleah Dalaya Dalton Daleth Dalina Dalexa Dalis Dallie Daliya Dalyla Dalyn Dalida Dalet Daliana Dalani Dalett Dalayah Dalanie

Sibling names for Daly

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Iyana Alize Lisbeth Vanesa Shakira Kaiya Shreya Anastacia

For a brother

Zakary Keyon Kelton Alexandre Jaylon Jaylin Jair Cristobal

Explore around Daly

Top names of 2002, Daly's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 2002 Girls' names starting with D